The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (5 page)

“
Yes, it’s
true, and I would like to think so, too, after all the times we
helped with his homework,” said the younger male.

“
Who...what
are you?” asked Helen inquisitively.

They all
looked at the young woman intensely.

“
Well,
have you ever! After all
the times we helped him, he’s never even mentioned us. There’s
gratitude for you,” said the older female’

“
We are
representations of the first of four Wizards and Witches to
liberate these towers from the Dark Lord who once lived here,” said
the elder male, not paying attention to his compatriot, “As for who
we are, or should I say were. The name’s Anret. Nice to meet
you.”

“
My name is
Gerov,” said the elder female statue.

“
Salonuith,”
said the young male.

“
Cajui is the
name,” said the younger female, bowing her head a little, which
almost tipped her over in the process, but she quickly caught her
balance again.

“
Well,
you know ours,” said Anret,
“so I ask you, fair Queen, what is your name?”

“
Helen.”

“
What a
beautiful Normal name,” Salonuith said sarcastically.

The younger
female statue sniggered.

“
Hail Queen
Helen of the Normals,” said Salonuith.

“
That’s
enough out of you!” said Delsani furiously.

The statue
threw the Wizard a disgusted look, as though he had just tried to
eat a jar of raw pickles.

“
I’m sure he
didn’t mean anything by it, Delsani,” said Helen.

“
Helen’s
right. Besides, the statue of Salonuith was made when he was a
young Ves-Guard, before he turned dark,” John assured Delsani. “He
helped me out more times than I can count when I was alone in this
place, and I never would’ve made it through history class without
them all.”

“
Fine, but I
will never trust it, never as long as I live,” said the old
Wizard.

“
For your
information,” said Salonuith, sounding clearly upset, “I am not,
nor have I ever been. The one of which you speak, so I would
appreciate it if you never address me as he ever again.”

“
We
should move on,”
said Delsani, ignoring
the last remark made by that statuette. And on they went. The
passageway curved off to the left, and then they came to yet three
more doors. Delsani and John walked toward the middle door, closely
followed by Helen. Delsani opened door and waited until John and
Helen were through. Then they began to walk down yet another long
dark corridor. Helen noticed that there was only one torch, which
was floating just in front of them. It seemed dimmer then the
others she had seen. They could only see about five paces ahead.
But with every pace they took. The light moved forward as the torch
led them all the way. This did not seem to bother Delsani or John,
so Helen said nothing of it.

The corridor
bent round to the right. Then they passed on through a door again
on the right. The torch did not follow them through the door, as
that place was well lit. They walked straight then turned left and
did not go far before they came to another set of double doors.
These doors were very large and were also made of stone, but
instead of being grey. They were blue. On the left door, there was
an eight-point star, which was one of the most common signs of the
Elves. On the right door was also an illustration of a full moon, a
common sign of the Wizards.

Sometimes
these signs were placed together as a symbol of their friendship.
There was also a thick stone arch above the doors and on it; it had
letters, which were in the Wizard and Elven languages that
read:

Speak the name of the council member you
know. And the doors will tell if you are friend or foe.

Delsani took
out his wand, stepped toward the doors and tapped the wand on the
moon door. “Jaucal,” he said in a foreboding voice, naming the
Grand Wizard, the head of the Wizard Councils. Nothing happened at
first, though when he pointed at the doors with his right index
finger. They began to open slowly.

Helen could
have sworn that she felt the floor beneath her feet shake, though
she could not tell for sure.

“
Helen,
you’ll have to stay out here,” said John.

“
Why?” the
woman asked, disappointed.

“
The
only ones allowed in the
Council Chamber during a meeting have to have a special
invitation,” said John.

“
And as you
decided to come at the last moment, the doors will not admit you,”
said Delsani. “I am sorry”

John took his
wand out of his back trouser pocket. He pointed it at one of the
many chairs in the Council Chamber.

“
What are you
doing?” asked Delsani.

“
I’m getting
Helen a chair,” answered John.

“
You don’t
need your wand for that John,” said Delsani, suddenly snatching it
from him. “You’re a Wizard-Elf, which means you can use your mind
if you concentrate hard enough.”

“
Try it,”
said Helen enthusiastically.

John looked at the chair, held out his right
hand toward it and in his mind he pictured the chair moving from
where it was to the wall beside him. But nothing happened.

“
You’re not
concentrating hard enough,” said Delsani.

John
concentrated harder, and this time with more than just the picture
in his mind.
Seopten,
he thought, which is the word for chair or seat
in the Wizard language. The chair vanished from the table it once
inhabited and reappeared in front of the wall as he had
commanded.

They could
hear raised voices coming from within the chamber beyond; it was
two of the leaders of the other races. “The chair disappeared,”
said one.

“
Yes, it was
there, but now it’s gone,” said another.

They both
sounded very agitated.

Suddenly John
felt a burning pain on his right wrist. When he inspected it, he
saw two red marks. The mark on the right looked like a four-point
star, which most likely came from the Elven side of him. The second
mark was diagonally down to the left and looked like a half
moon.

“
What’s
wrong?”
asked Helen.

“
My wrist,”
replied John.

“
A four point
star and a half moon,” said Delsani.

“
Yes,” said
John, ‘I’ve got a feeling there’s something else you forgot to tell
me old friend.”

“
This I did
not forget,” said Delsani. “For Wizard-Elves bear those two signs.
Other than the eyes and ears, that is probably the only way of
telling Wizard-Elves from ordinary Wizards, as you’ve probably
heard me say before.”

“
Yeah, I
think you did say something about it. But why didn’t you tell me
more?” asked John.

“
At the time
I thought it best to tell you later, which I shall do now. Thoucil
and Dragdani asked the Wizard Council to keep it secret. I don’t
know why, but they both wore a leather armband to cover their right
wrists,” said the old Wizard.

There was a
short silence.

“
We
should go now, John;
the council is
waiting,” said Delsani.

“
I can get
someone to show you to our room if you don’t want to wait,” John
said to his wife.

“
No, I’m
fine,” replied Helen quickly.

“
This could
be a long wait Helen,” said the Wizard-Elf.

“
Or it
could be a short wait,”
said the
woman.

“
It’s not too
late to change your mind,” said John.

“
Yes, it is,”
said Helen. “You’d better go.”

John leaned
forward and kissed his beautiful wife
.
Then he turned on his heel and he and Delsani walked into the
Council Chamber. As soon as they were past the doors, they quickly
and abruptly slammed shut.

It was at
least two hours before the Council and their guests finished their
meeting.

By this time
Helen had fallen asleep. John gently woke her. “It’s time for
lunch,” he said.

“
What time is
it?” she asked sleepily.

“
Ten past
one,” said John. “We better hurry; they’re all waiting.”

“
I must’ve
fallen asleep,” said Helen.

“
Yeah,
you did, and you were
snoring.”

Helen turned scarlet with this
information.

“
It wasn’t my
fault. The chair was far too comfortable. It made me doze off,”
said Helen, not at all amused, “Where are we having lunch?” she
asked, trying to change the subject. She succeeded.

“
The
y eat lunch in the Council
Chamber, of course.”

“
Wait a
minute,” said Helen. “I thought you said that I’m not allowed in
there because I’m not invited.”

“
That was
only because there was a meeting being held,” said John. “Now the
Grand Wizard has invited us to lunch.”

“
Well,
excuse me,” said Helen in a
mock voice as she stuck her nose in the air. John gave out a small
laugh. Then he and his wife walked arm in arm through the doors and
into the room. Within, the ceiling was quite high. There were six
tables but only four were occupied. The tables were long and
curved. All together they made a circle and were each spaced a
meter apart.

The two
tables in front of the doors were empty. The other four were all
half full, with each holding eight people.

To the right
of John and Helen were the Wizards, and among them was the
ambassador of the Council of Witchcraft, the Warlock, Lenfad. The
Council of Witchcraft sent him so he could report everything that
was discussed in the meeting and allow a decision to be made by the
Supreme Witch in concern to the subject of that very meeting. The
reason that the Warlock was seated among the Wizards was because
Witches and Wizards are of the same race; the only difference is
that some of their beliefs differ in certain areas of
magic.

John and
Helen walked over to the Wizard table to sit between Delsani and
the Grand Wizard, Jaucal. To the right of the Wizards were the
Elves; next to them were the Dwarves, and then the Men of the
Morden.

Behind the
Men appeared another door, which was not as big as the others they
had just entered. Then the smaller door opened and some Wizards
came out of the next room, which appeared to be a kitchen. They
were carrying platters of food. The men were served food first,
since they were the closest; the Dwarves were served second, then
the Elves, and then the Wizard.

Halfway
through his meal, Delsani got up from his chair went to the Grand
Wizard Jaucal and proceeded to whisper in his ear. Jaucal looked up
at him and then over at John. It seemed that whatever Delsani said
had caught his complete attention. Jaucal then whispered back to
Delsani, who nodded. The Grand Wizard called to one of the Wizards
serving the wine. He talked with him and the Wizard put the pitcher
of wine he held down in front of Jaucal and quickly walked out of
the room.

After lunch,
the guests were taken four floors up to a narrow corridor. The
walls were blue (as was most of that tower), and there were
pictures, some small, some large, and mostly of people, but there
were pictures of many other things associated with both Dorminya
and the Normal world. As they walked, they also saw doors that were
only a meter apart. They were the doors of the
guestrooms.

The guests
were shown to the doors of the rooms they had been assigned to, and
then shown the rooms themselves. John and Helen were taken to
John’s old room, which had been specially cleansed for their
arrival. Helen saw little letters in the Wizard language on their
room door. “What does it say John?” she asked.

“
It’s my
name,” replied John. ‘My real name.’ He then put his hand in his
pocket and pulled a small brass key. There was no keyhole to be
seen; John put his hand on the letters on the door. Light covered
the letters and travelled down the door. When it stopped, the light
dispersed and a keyhole appeared. John put the key in the lock and
turned it. There was a click, and the whole door, like the name,
was covered in light and then vanished.

Helen could see lights and distorted colors
in the room ahead.

John walked
straight into the room without hesitation. “Come on in, Helen,” he
said. Helen thought his voice sounded muffled. She slowly started
toward the doorway as if unsure of what might happen, for too many
strange things had happened and were still happening, all too
quickly for her liking.

When she
walked though the doorway, the blurry light began to come into
focus and things were beginning to take shape. She saw that room
that she was in was very large. “How can the room be so big? Wait
let me guess it’s all an illusion,” she said trying to sound
unimpressed by the place.